ust avoid is heedlessness, don't you think? Didn't
Napoleon say that if only Caesar had been first in killing the men
who wanted to kill him--something about Pompey's statue being kept
clean. What was it--why should they blame Caesar for the condition of
the public statues?"

"My dear Mrs. Hastings," Mr. Frothingham reminded her, his long
gloved hands laid trimly along his knees as before, "you are in my
care."

The statue problem faded from the lady's eyes.

"Poor, dear Mr. Hastings always said you were so admirable at
cross-questioning," she recalled, partly reassured.

"Ah," cried Miss Holland protestingly, "Aunt Dora, this is an
adventure. We are going to see 'Tabnit.'"

St. George was silent, ecstatically reviewing the events of the last
six hours and thinking unenviously of Amory, rocking somewhere with
_The Aloha_ on a mere stretch of green water:

"If Chillingworth could see me now," he thought victoriously, as the
carriage turned smartly into McDougle Street.

CHAPTER IV

THE PRINCE OF FAR-AWAY

No. 19 McDougle Street had been chosen as a likely market by a
"hokey-pokey" man, who had wheeled his cart to the curb before the
entrance. There, despite Mrs. Hastings' coach-man's peremptory
appeal, he continued to dispense stained ice-cream to the little
denizens of No. 19 and the other houses in the row. The brougham,
however, at once proved a counter-attraction and immediately an
opposition group formed about the carriage step and exchanged
penetrating comments upon the livery.

"Mrs. Hastings, you and Miss Holland would better sit here,
perhaps," suggested St. George, alighting hurriedly, "until I see if
this man is to be found."

"Please," said Miss Holland, "I've always been longing to go into
one of these houses, and now I'm going. Aren't we, Aunt Dora?"

"If you think--" ventured Mr. Frothingham in perplexity; but Mr.
Frothingham's perplexity always impressed one as duty-born rather
than judicious, and Miss Holland had already risen.

"Olivia!" protested Mrs. Hastings faintly, accepting St. George's
hand, "do look at those children's aprons. I'm afraid we'll all
contract fever after fever, just coming this far."

Unkempt women were occupying the doorstep of No. 19. St. George
accosted them and asked the way to the rooms of a Mr. Tabnit. They
smiled, displaying their wonderful teeth, consulted together, and
finally with many labials and uncouth pointings of shapely hands
they indicat